Thanks to cableguy spending 15 minutes on the phone with me (after the 4th visit of people trying to figure out my problem) I now seem to be up and running. It turns out that none of the techs bothered verifying all the ids for both cards, and sure enough, the card that wasn't working had an incorrect number in their system and (for some reason) was missing 10 or so channels (that I watch).

It was not:
1. Old cablecard firmware/production run.
2. Bad slot one on my TiVo.

I am pretty happy now, no more empty recordings (which would make my tivo hang for 30 seconds or so if I tried to watch while it was still recording).

Now I just need to cross my fingers that they wont break any of the channels I care about with SDV.

You never get the same answer twice when you speak with TWC CSR's. Three days I called TWC and asked about getting a Cable Card for a TIVO. The CSR told me they don't provide cable cards. I pressed him and asked him what if I was asking for a Cable Card compatible TV and not a TIVO, would he then have a Cable Card I could use? He said, no. TWC stopped providing Cable Cards. Hmmm.

I called back today and was told that they do provide cable cards, that the first one's free and the second one's $6.95/month, the technician could provide both in one trip, the visit is 16.95 (or something around that price, don't remember the exact amount). He also emphasized that they could not provide help or any troubleshooting if something were to go wrong since they don't have experience knowledge of TIVO's. The guy kept using the word liability but I think he just was trying to sound official.

Anyhow, the only thing that worries me, and this may sound somewhat paranoid, is the possibilty that TWC might do something to screw everyone who's got a S3. I imagine some engineer somewhere being instructed to send out some signal that screws up non-TWC receivers.

I've called Time Warner twice now, and even went down to my TW local office. They claim that they while they are, in fact, offered... Time Warner Los Angeles is currently plum out of stock of Cable Cards, and that it might be a two month wait for them to get any more.

I just need to keep calling, waiting, and when they come in, make an appointment and a tech will deliver them.

This seems... wrong. Folks will be buying S3 TiVos, only to discover after the fact, that their Cable Company will delay their enjoyment, for a very long time. Maybe even indefinitely?

So my new Series 3 TiVo sits and waits, recording OTA only.

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After much deliberation, I finally ordered an S3 from costco online today. For obvious reasons, I was hoping to log onto this forum and read that Time Warner's supply of cable cards was going to get better, not worse!

My Time Warner backstory thus far:

- In early December I purchased an HD TV so figured it was time to update to some HD cable TV. Not being able to yet afford the Series 3, I stupidly requested a DVR from Time Warner. Big Mistake.

- On the 15th December, the guys come out to install the Time Warner DVR. First impressions: "Eh, what is this that outdated hunk of plastic crap you're carrying with you?" - "Ah, I see, that's my new DVR is it?". The Moxi DVR. I knew I made a mistake there and then, before they'd even plugged it in.

- So they plug it in and it sounds like an electrical generator warming up in my living room. But hey, let's see how this thing works, right?

- They can't get it working. The TV guide doesn't work. The on demand services don't work. What's more, Time Warner's people with Time Warner equipment can't get it to work. They inform me that they have no more DVRs in their van, I'll have to ring Time Warner to get another appointment scheduled.

- Great. So I'm left with a DVR that doesn't work. I can't even tell what station I'm watching unless I refer to a print-out. Obviously due to the lack of information, the DVR can't record anything. Sure, you can pause - you can rewind - but that's about the extent of it.

- What's more, had this box proved functional, they sent out a model that didn't have HDMI. Oh sure, they have models with HDMI out. But you have to specifically request that. Otherwise you get handed the second hand unit that looks like its been through a war or two.

- I rang Time Warner 3 times. Reported the issue. They'll pass on my information to the appropriate department and have them call me back within 24 hours. Nobody called me back. Not once. Nobody helped me schedule another appointment. Nothing. I've been too busy with my job to schedule another half day off work, so i've just let it lie for the past 3 weeks.

I plan on visiting the local office this afternoon as I can't deal with another series of phonecalls that go nowhere, but rest assured, I will be putting up one hell of a fight to get 2 cable cards installed into my series 3. I won't be taking no for an answer.

A warning to all - never opt for a Time Warner MOXI DVR. It's impossible to go from a TIVO to this. Really. It's junk. I realize that it's unfair to judge due to Time Warner's inability to make it work, but from what I've experienced thus far, I'm not impressed with either company.

Note to Moxi: You'd probably have a better name for yourself in the DVR department if Time Warner actually serviced newer units to customers, rather than damaged second hand goods.

well, I've just returned from the local Time Warner office here in Los Angeles. On explaining my previous post's problems to the lady behind the counter, she cancelled last month's fee on the Moxi DVR.

I now have an appointment scheduled for Feb 5th for their guy to come out, take away the Moxi and install 2 x Cable Cards in my Series 3. It's worth noting that just because this appointment has been made, it does not mean that they have cable cards in stock... she didn't look like she'd have known one way or the other so I figured, why ask? The appointment has been made.

The only reason I opted for Feb 5th as an installation date is because I only just ordered the Series 3 from costco today - with a 7-10 day delivery estimate, I wanted to be safe!

More to follow come Feb 5th. Will they have 2 x Cable Cards when they arrive? Will they know how to install them? Will they be able to get everything working? I'll let you know. One thing's for certain, the Moxi DVR will be gone - and so will the noise it generates.

Today when I got into the office my boss had a shiny new S3 waiting for me in our headend. I waited for the installer-which was me-to get it all hooked up so I could install the cable cards. I inserted the cable card into slot 1, got the host and cable card ID and entered it into the DNCS. Less than two minutes later I was getting all of my channels. Then, the blue screen popped up saying firmware update in progress. The update took ten minutes. I then popped card two in the slot and then entered all of its information into the DNCS. Two minutes later all of my channels appeared. Then, just like the first card it had to do a firmware update. This one took about 15 minutes to do the upgrade. I now have a perfectly operating S3, and I could not have been happier with the installer. Let's give this thing the pepsi challenge with the 8300HD I have sitting next to it.

Just so you know; your new S-3 will be delivered in the retail box with a shipping label affixed. My wife said she had to sign for the box; so make sure someone is home to receive the package!

thanks for that! i'm getting it delivered to my office, so someone will be on hand to sign for it... i'm just nervous about getting it up and running. if you spend any time reading these forums, you become gripped by fear...

...but it's the same for everything. people who have a good experience have little need to seek out internet forums, let alone post on them.

thanks for that! i'm getting it delivered to my office, so someone will be on hand to sign for it... i'm just nervous about getting it up and running. if you spend any time reading these forums, you become gripped by fear...

...but it's the same for everything. people who have a good experience have little need to seek out internet forums, let alone post on them.

For what it's worth I had mine, out of the box, up and running in less than 30 minutes. Including setting up the wireless connection and contacting TiVo for programming data.
Have yet to look at the instructions, for anything more than setting up the remote.

I am in Southern California and have been a Tivo user for about 8 years. I just recently got my S3 and have had either the worst technicians or the worst luck ever imagineable on this project.

My main problem is, after 5 different visits and 6 different techs, that they can get any of the channels above 99 to work except 419 which is UHD. I have a basic plan with the HD channels and the sports package.

Now they are trying to tell me that my Tivo is bad (which after about a month of this I'm starting to wonder...).

Has anyone else had this problem?

I've run the instructions like it's said and the Auth's have come through, but to no avail.

Currently I only have one card in the system as they took all the others back and like the rest only 419 is functional above 99.

Alright, you all got me worried now. I currently have 2 S2 Tivo's working fine connected to DirecTV.

I'm moving up to North Carolina, south of charlotte and I'm reading all these posts about "Cards" and such with Time Warner Cable up there. I've already scheduled the TW techs to come on site the day after I move up there with 3 Analog and one HD box. Am I in for trouble?

Here's some questions...

1) Will Tivo even work with the HD box or will I have to connect them to one of the Analog boxes?

2) If I can hook it up to the HD box, will I need to jump through hoops to get this stuff to work like having HD signal right into the TV and Analog into TV?

I am currently a DirecTV subscriber, bought an S3 and am ready to switch to TWC. Unfortunately, I wasn't up to speed on what I needed to do when setting up the installation. So my install date is set for this Sat 1/26 but I didn't request cable cards. I just called to request the cards and they told me their system would not permit them to just add the cards - they would need to cancel my current appointment and set up a new one in approx two weeks.

The CSR recommended that I keep the current appointment and take the box to the cable store and exchange it for the cable cards. According to her, it's a simple set-up - just insert the cards and it should work, but that doesn't sound like the case here. She also said she would make a note that I had requested the cards but I would probably need to get them myself - and could only do so AFTER the installation.

Is it crazy to expect that I can pick them up after the installation and have everything go smoothly? Or do I really need to wait yet another two weeks to get the right installation?

My install is tomorrow so I can't speak from experence, but from what I have read you are better off installing the cards yourself and properly following the directions than having an impatient installer do it and screwing everything up. I am also switching from DirecTV to TWC.

I am in Southern California and have been a Tivo user for about 8 years. I just recently got my S3 and have had either the worst technicians or the worst luck ever imagineable on this project.

My main problem is, after 5 different visits and 6 different techs, that they can get any of the channels above 99 to work except 419 which is UHD. I have a basic plan with the HD channels and the sports package.

Now they are trying to tell me that my Tivo is bad (which after about a month of this I'm starting to wonder...).

Has anyone else had this problem?

I've run the instructions like it's said and the Auth's have come through, but to no avail.

Currently I only have one card in the system as they took all the others back and like the rest only 419 is functional above 99.

Can anyone show me some LOVE out there?????

oh crap, it's funny you mention this. i was going to go order a cable card for my s3 because TW's hd box will not allow me to receive any channels over 99 except for the local hd! i have the digital plus hd tier. i should be able to receive tnthd, espnhd, discoveryhd and fswhd (also other digital channels) with this package. i even exchanged the box for another, but still the same problem. they tried sending a tech over to fix it, but he had no clue what the issue is, so i said maybe i'll try the cable card route....but i guess that's not gonna work either after hearing your story. i live in chino, ca btw.

oh crap, it's funny you mention this. i was going to go order a cable card for my s3 because TW's hd box will not allow me to receive any channels over 99 except for the local hd! i have the digital plus hd tier. i should be able to receive tnthd, espnhd, discoveryhd and fswhd (also other digital channels) with this package. i even exchanged the box for another, but still the same problem. they tried sending a tech over to fix it, but he had no clue what the issue is, so i said maybe i'll try the cable card route....but i guess that's not gonna work either after hearing your story. i live in chino, ca btw.

Oh my! Do you have the output from a cable box going into the S3? You cannot use the S3 with a cable box. If you want to subscribe to cable, you must use CableCARDs, which work without problem for most people.

I suggest you read the "Series3 FAQ - Review - Photos" atop this forum, especially the FAQs between, "What sources can the S3 be used with?" and "How many CableCARDs are required for digital cable?"

Oh my! Do you have the output from a cable box going into the S3? You cannot use the S3 with a cable box. If you want to subscribe to cable, you must use CableCARDs, which work without problem for most people.

I suggest you read the "Series3 FAQ - Review - Photos" atop this forum, especially the FAQs between, "What sources can the S3 be used with?" and "How many CableCARDs are required for digital cable?"

no, i know how to connect a cable card with an s3 and the cable company. my problem is whether i use an hd cable box from TW OR TW cablecards, i don't get channels above 99 except for the local hd. (installer just left a few minutes ago scratching his head as to why it won't work) now since i have the hd tier, i should also be recieving tnthd, espnhd, etc. i don't even get the other digital channels.

the installer said he will have to see if others around my block have the same issue. it has to be something on TW's end since i returned 3 of their hd boxes trying to figure this out a couple months ago having the same prob. it can't be the signal in my house since the installer verified all signals were excellent.

no, i know how to connect a cable card with an s3 and the cable company. my problem is whether i use an hd cable box from TW OR TW cablecards, i don't get channels above 99 except for the local hd. (installer just left a few minutes ago scratching his head as to why it won't work) now since i have the hd tier, i should also be recieving tnthd, espnhd, etc. i don't even get the other digital channels.

the installer said he will have to see if others around my block have the same issue. it has to be something on TW's end since i returned 3 of their hd boxes trying to figure this out a couple months ago having the same prob. it can't be the signal in my house since the installer verified all signals were excellent.

Since you had the same problem with a HD cable box, there is probably something set up wrong on your account with TW.

Assuming your local TW is anything like mine, to receive anything above 99 except for the local HD, you need to have both their Digital Package and their HD package.

I would call TW and ask them to make sure that all the packages are shown as active on your account.

When I first had the cable cards installed in the S3, I was having similar problems, in spite of the fact that all of the channels above 99 were still coming in on my HD cable box. Apparently TW needed to activate the additional on the setting in my account for the cable cards as well. I few minutes after I finished the call, they all started to come in on the S3.

My cable cards, which had worked fine for about a month, stopped working the other night. I can't get anything other than local channels (but at least I get them in HD!). I can't even get basic cable channels like CNN. (I do get SciFi at least).

This morning a tech showed up. He called in, they re-ran authorization and it didn't do anything. Somehow they sent this guy out without any replacement cablecards, so he had to call dispatch to send someone over with them. At least they sent over a supervisor, so at least I had someone who had some idea what he was doing. They swapped out the cards, but nope, still no luck.

They then checked the signal (no problems) and then said it was an IT issue, and that their IT department would be contacting me.

Not trusting Time Warner for a second (many years of service have made me a bitter man), I called their support line and got the runaround a few times. Everyone I spoke with there said that IT doesn't actually contact customers, so if I was going to wait for them to contact me, it would be a very long wait indeed.

I finally got a supervisor who was willing to deal with me. She called IT (who reiterated that they don't talk to customers, just techs on-site), then dispatch. It now looks like dispatch is going to be sending someone else out here, who will contact IT while on-site. But I don't know that for certain yet.

Yeesh. What a pain. I swear, I hate Time Warner. Everything is like pulling teeth with them.

My install is tomorrow so I can't speak from experence, but from what I have read you are better off installing the cards yourself and properly following the directions than having an impatient installer do it and screwing everything up. I am also switching from DirecTV to TWC.

Been there,...

I'm in Northridge and TW West Valley phone people were not able to authorize them. They said they were doing it, but it never was correct - I tried several times with different phone calls.

The tech guy who came and did them siad it's a different department. He called the dispatcher to get it done.

I just had my Series 3 installed yesterday by TWC in NYC. The technician, believe it or not, was pretty knowledgable, but there are still many problems.

1. We set up the cable cards during the guided setup process and the TWC tech called in the host ID numbers to activate them. Then during the rest of the setup the machine kept re-booting to update cable card firmware. This happened 6 times and a wasted hour.

2. Then we called TiVo who told us to do the set-up without the cable cards installed and then install the cable cards. After doing this we finally got through the set-up process, but no channels were coming though.

3. We rebooted the machine and went thought the guided set up process again. This time only the local channels (both SD and HD) were working along with TBS and some shopping networks. No other channels (ESPN, CNN, MSNBC etc... ) were working, including all the premium channels I bought and some local cable access channels.

4. There is just a grey screen. and when I did the signal strength the signals all came up strong, but still just a grey screen

5. I have a Pioneer Elite PRO-1110 Plasma.

6. My questions are these:
a) is it possible to receive some channels even if the cable cards either are not functioning or not set up properly?
b) has anyone else had a similar problem? I have searched the forum, but could not find an answer ... although I have read all the horror stories of set up problems ...
c) is this a problem that will be solved with new cards, or can a technician come out to re-install the cards?
d) could I do this myself? if so do I need to call TWC to set up the cable cards again, or talk to TiVo about the issue? (I have already set up a TWC person to come on Friday, but I am hoping to solve sooner.
e) i tried changing the settings on the video output and on the Pioneer, but no results ... is there something else I could try?

I've got a problem right now with 3 channels now coming in. 2 channels I could care less about. One I do care about.

These are digital channels and at first I only had a problem with one channel. Now since September two more channels have gone out. I had a tech come out today and he could not fix it. He just wanted to put the cards in and out which caused the endless reboots. Finally he made a call and they said I have a bad TiVo. I said bull, this thing was working fine before you played with the cards (except the three stations). I then did the fix for the endless reboot and had him install the cable cards EXACTLY as the directions said. Wasn't easy, he kept wanting me to do this, do that but I had the cards and the remote and I said no.

Finally we got the cable up and running and I told him it has to be a mapping problem. He made a call to head end and they said no, check all connections. He checked some connections then told me sorry, nothing else he can do. I told him that law requires them to make the cable cards work. He said he would talk to his supervisor.

So what's my next step? Wait for a call? Call TW and start asking for credits until it gets fixed?

I switched to component video and it works fine. So for whatever reason, the issue lies between the TiVo and my television (Sony 34XBR960).

I called TiVo, and they told me to check my television's HDMI settings. Which of course is silly because it has no such settings to check. It's also weird that I was able to use my Time Warner DVR for over a year with no problems via HDMI, and now all of a sudden I'm having them with the Series3?

Is this a known software issue? The person I spoke with refused to say that, insisting that it must be an issue with my television. This just seems like a nasty bug to me on the TiVo side, and not something with my TV.

My intall started off on the wrong foot - no cable cards on the work order - but the guy came back in about 20 minutes with the cards. He had to connect to the house first and then connected to each of the rooms in which I will eventually have cable. The cable card install went fine but after the guy left I notice that I only get about 20% of the channels. The guy also brought a Moxi DVR which was included in my package but he couldn't get it to work. He said the signal was too weak and he would have someone come back another day with an amplifier. Could the weak signal be affecting the S3 as well? He split the room with the S3 before he split the other three rooms so that the S3 would have the strongest signal.

my complaint letter to time warner still haven't sent it yet but i sure will...
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CableCARDs Complaint Letter.

I am a long time Time warner cable customer (since 2001) I have enjoyed good service up to the point I requested CableCARD installation for my newly acquired a Tivo Series 3 Digital Video Recorder this past Christmas. I set an appointment for January 3rd, in which i was charged $30.30 for the installation of the first CableCARD and $19 for the second. both CableCARDs were to be installed in the Tivo (it requires two cards for dual tuner functionality).

January 3rd the technician arrives at 2:30pm and the installation went smoothly but a little over a week later i was missing channels thus the problems began. I exchanged the Tivo for fear of having a defective unit, I called Time Warner on the 13th of January to help me resolve the missing channels problem after 2 hours of nowhere , they recommended to set an appointment for a technician to come out to initialize the CableCARDs.

January 18th the technician arrives at 4pm (incidentally the appointment was from 1pm to 4pm) only to tell me he has never heard of CableCARDs before and he is not the person to do this job, only a Time Warner “in house” technician can do the CableCARD initializations (or installations). At this point I'm very upset at having to wait the whole day for a technician to come help me only to tell me someone else has to do it. I call Time Warner again and politely ask for immediate assistance with the CableCARDs since the channels i was receiving were not even cable channels most were the local channels. I was not getting the channels I subscribed to. After another fruitless two hours on the phone , I consented to yet another visit (which meant losing my third day to get these cards turned on).

January 24th a rather rude technician (#3983) arrives at 9:45am to try and help me get CableCARDs instead he checks my cable connection and gives a sales pitch for using the Time Warner DVR as opposed to the Tivo with CableCARDs. I make it clear I fully understand the limitations of the technology behind the CableCARDs and I accept those limitations. He reluctantly calls dispatch to tell them i am missing some channels and requests instructions on what he should he do. The dispatcher asks for the CableCARD serial numbers and to wait for for ten minutes. Ten minutes pass and nothing happens then the technician (who seems to have no interest in helping me) offers me 2 solutions either add a Time Warner dvr box or get another appointment (for an allegedly higher level technician). This is totally unacceptable I felt like I was literally being pushed to stop trying to use CableCARD based devices. There was not any point in observing the technicians that I felt they really were trying to get the service up and running. In fact, it was more like they were hindrances to getting them working so that I may give up and rent a cable box. So the technician leaves saying wait another ten minutes if still no service make another appointment.

I called Time Warner to explicitly explain to them their legal obligation (as per the FCC) to fully support CableCARD customers and offer service equal to that of cable box rental customers. I have been out of cable service since the 13th and was told I would get a service credit for the loss of service. I have yet to receive the credit nor the service to date only a marathon of appointments. The next one is scheduled for January 29th. At this point if I cannot get proper assistance I will give up on the prospect for the CableCARD service and cable all together. I will also file a formal complaint to the FCC for poor and negligent service on Time Warner's behalf to a paying customer.

Surprise! TW-Austin quietly seems to have switched Versus(470) and Nick Toons (125) without any warning. The only reason I won't call them lying pieces of garbage for it is that they don't even list the channels that they switch anywhere official. Pretty convenient that it allows the lying CSRs to blame any cablecard problem on switched channels.
They also screwed up billing this month. Even though I have autopay they show last month's bill as unpaid.

Too bad the TiVo alternative is with HD-lite via satellite and a different incompatible future in MPEG4.
Maybe someday Grande will come to my side of Austin (or I'll move somewhere they have service).

__________________
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oh crap, it's funny you mention this. i was going to go order a cable card for my s3 because TW's hd box will not allow me to receive any channels over 99 except for the local hd! i have the digital plus hd tier. i should be able to receive tnthd, espnhd, discoveryhd and fswhd (also other digital channels) with this package. i even exchanged the box for another, but still the same problem. they tried sending a tech over to fix it, but he had no clue what the issue is, so i said maybe i'll try the cable card route....but i guess that's not gonna work either after hearing your story. i live in chino, ca btw.

I'm learning as I go. I called a CSR after reading about these different problems and asked her if she could send me a 'hit' so I can watch the EMM's and they did go up as she hit the card, but no new channels.

BTW the final installer that came out insisted that my Tivo was bad and there was nothing more they could do and left. He was (at my request) sent out by a Supervisor. Anyway back to the call. She asked me if I had cablecard capabilities on my TV too and I looked and sure enough it's there.

So she had me remove the CC from the Tivo, insert it in the TV and she remarried it to the TV and sent a hit. Now I get no digital channels and only the local HD's whereas before I got most all the digitals and only 419 in HD.

She said, "well maybe it's NOT your Tivo" and scheduled my 8th technician in the last 7 service calls. SEVEN FREAKIN' SERVICE CALLS AND IT STILL DOESN'T WORK RIGHT!!!!!!!

The moral of the story is though if it works in your TV right, it should work in the Tivo right. So far neither have worked correctly. I'll update my Post after Friday with the results in the hopes that it will help somebody else in the future.

My intall started off on the wrong foot - no cable cards on the work order - but the guy came back in about 20 minutes with the cards. He had to connect to the house first and then connected to each of the rooms in which I will eventually have cable. The cable card install went fine but after the guy left I notice that I only get about 20% of the channels. The guy also brought a Moxi DVR which was included in my package but he couldn't get it to work. He said the signal was too weak and he would have someone come back another day with an amplifier. Could the weak signal be affecting the S3 as well? He split the room with the S3 before he split the other three rooms so that the S3 would have the strongest signal.

Your problem is you got Kable Kards and the S3 only takes Cable Cards....

Seriously, from what I saw, the signal CAN be an issue with it seeing the authorization messages but I'd put better money on them not being properly authorized in the provisioning system.

I switched to component video and it works fine. So for whatever reason, the issue lies between the TiVo and my television (Sony 34XBR960).

I called TiVo, and they told me to check my television's HDMI settings. Which of course is silly because it has no such settings to check. It's also weird that I was able to use my Time Warner DVR for over a year with no problems via HDMI, and now all of a sudden I'm having them with the Series3?

Is this a known software issue? The person I spoke with refused to say that, insisting that it must be an issue with my television. This just seems like a nasty bug to me on the TiVo side, and not something with my TV.

Welcome to the world of DRM. You can thank your congressman for any issues you have using the HDMI ports on your TV and AV equipment. I predict that more people over the next few years will be using component connections over HDMI and that the whole HDMI interface will die.

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